by Maile Bowles | Dec 10, 2017 | Indonesia, Maile
Bali was amazing! We got to see a temple, monkeys, and go shopping. At the temple, there is a beautiful lake with a perfect breeze. We got to ride swan boats on the lake. My dad said the boats were hideous, but I think that they are the most beautiful boats in the world. Something that I found strange was that there was a statue of Sponge Bob in the Demon Garden. Alex says itâs for a reason, but I think it was a mistake. After that, we went to the monkey forest. We bought bananas to get the monkeys on us. Alex was afraid, so I got a monkey on me first. We also saw two little baby monkeys hanging on to their mothers. After saying bye to the monkeys we went painting shopping. We ended up getting two paintings. Something that they do when someone buys something, is that they wipe the money you gave them on all their other valuables as good luck. Then we came back to the room, had dinner, and slept.
by Maile Bowles | Dec 8, 2017 | Indonesia, Maile
So far, today was a relaxing day. We traveled from Wakatobi to Bali by plane. Then Alex and I went swimming in our private pool. At Wakatobi I made a friend named Talula who was very kind. Now I am relaxing on the beach with Alex enjoying my mocktail.đđđ
by Maile Bowles | Dec 1, 2017 | Australia, Maile
After hanging at the beach we went to Uluru, the biggest rock in the world. It is in the middle of the desert known as the Australian Outback. As you can guess, it was hot! It was way hotter than my hometown of St. George, and it was only Spring. It felt like 1,000,000,000,000,000,000°F! Turns out it was only 102°F. Since it was so hot, they advised people to finish their hiking before 11 a.m. or you could die of heat exhaustion. Anyway, two-thirds of Uluru is underground! The part which is above the ground is as tall as the Eifel Tower! My family and I got to bike around it. Our hotel room there was three stories tall!
Next, we went to Kings Canyon. Basically, all we did was go on a mini hike and saw many wild camels and a wild dingo! The dingo looked like a doggy.
After seeing the doggy, we to Alice Springs. While there, we bought some Aboriginal paintings. Also, there was a wicked storm that within the first five minutes caused the streets to flood. My dad and I were totally soaked just running across a street to join mom and Alex. The storm also knocked down tree branches of giant and sturdy trees.
Then we went to Darwin. From there we rented a 4-wheel drive and drove to Kakadu National Park. We went on a boat cruise on a billabong and the Alligator River. We saw many birds, including some baby birds whose nickname was âJesus-walkersâ because it looks like they are walking on water. Actually, they have big feet and are walking on lily pads. Then we went to Litchfield National Park. In Litchfield, we went swimming in pools and waterfalls. I almost drowned because the current was wearing me out.
Now we are getting ready to travel to Wakatobi where we will have our own personal pool and a 24/7 butler. Wakatobi is in Indonesia. We were supposed to go through Bali to get there faster, but a lot of volcanic ash is in the air and the airport is closed. We are trying to get there any way we can. Today we will fly to Singapore and then Jakarta. From there it will still take at least two more flights and a boat ride to get there.
by Maile Bowles | Nov 26, 2017 | Australia, Maile
On this trip, we have had many adventures. We started off in Sydney. We had a fantastic room with an excellent view. We were on the 19th floor and could see the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. My favorite things we did in Sydney were attending a performance of The Merchant of Venice in the Sydney Opera House and climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge. One fact that I can’t forget is that the color of the bridge is Sydney Harbor Bridge grey-its very own color!
Next, we went to the Blue Mountains. Our room was very funky. The wallpaper, tissue boxes, upholstery, rubbish bin (garbage can), and curtains all had the same design. GROOOOOOOOOOOVEYYYY!!!!!! We went to a Hatted (like Michelin Star) restaurant named Darley’s. I had a salad while Alex had kangaroo–that poor little creature. We were given a little complimentary dish with quail. I didn’t eat it; my dad ate mine. I was sad because I see those little creatures running in our yard at home. They eat strange animals here. The next morning we went on a hike. The Blue Mountains are known for its hikes through the unique jungle. It’s unique because the plants have remained the same since dinosaur times. We got some funny greenscreen photos. My favorite one was with a t-rex. One of the most common animals there was the cockatoo. They were very loud. We saw them flying everywhere which inspired me to get a stuffed animal of one and I named it Tequila. Tequila rides in style. When we were there we rode a scenic train and an aerial tram. The train was the steepest in the world.
After hanging in the Blue Mountains, we went to the beach. We had to take a two-hour long ferry to get to Heron Island which is on the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. Heron Island has no herons on it and actually is not an island. It was named for the egrets which look similar to herons. It’s actually a coral cay, not a true island. Heron Island was filled with birds with black feathers and white heads called white-capped noddies. Alex and my mom were pooped on by these naughty birds. (Pun intended) Also, we saw many turtles. It was nesting season for them so we got to watch them crawl up on land and back down into the ocean. Alex and my mom watched a turtle fall in a hole. Also, while there I became a junior ranger. I had a small book I had to fill out in order to get the junior ranger badge. They had multiple badges that you had to get in order to receive the junior ranger badge. I received eleven out of the thirteen badges. The two I didn’t get were unnecessary: a fishing badge and a whale badge which I couldn’t get because it wasn’t whale season. It was really fun.
by Maile Bowles | Nov 17, 2017 | Australia, Maile
In Australia, they celebrate Christmas in their Summer!
by Maile Bowles | Nov 17, 2017 | Australia, Maile
We went to the zoo and saw cockatoos and saw a lot of them in the wild. Seeing them all made me want one so I settled on a stuffed animal. Tequila rides with style.
